Mobile mast to be moved due to nesting birds

A mobile infrastructure company has been forced to relocate a key communications mast due to nesting birds.

Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), which is jointly owned by EE and Three, has been given permission to build a new 40-metre high mast at Doxford International Business Park, in Sunderland.

The firm previously had a radio base station nearby but council documents confirmed the site was "lost from the network" due to birds on the feeder cables.

As a result the power at the base station had to be switched off and the infrastructure is expected to be removed entirely following the breeding season.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, MBNL said the loss of an established base station impacts local communications and data services and causes wider disruption if a replacement site is not integrated into the network "at the earliest opportunity".

MBNL said it was limited in its search for replacement sites due to a "requirement to provide equivalent replacement coverage and capacity and new 5G" for the area, while also ensuring the site fits into the existing network.

Applicants said the towering 40-metre-high lattice tower with antennas and transmission dishes was needed "due to the land elevation at the site to provide all the operator's equipment to reach the target coverage area".

Sunderland City Council's planning department approved plans for the new mobile phone mast on 9 November.

Officers said "given the presence of existing planting and trees, high street furniture and large electricity pylons, the proposed lattice tower would be visually acceptable within the setting, without detriment to the street scene or views".

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